


All Aboard the Braid Train

by sham2400



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Enemies to Friends to “What are We”, Light Angst, M/M, awkward boys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-06-01
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:41:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24485275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sham2400/pseuds/sham2400
Summary: Platonic but not platonic, flirting but not flirting. Zuko is having hair issues and luckily enough the Avatar can solve mortal world problems, spirt world problems and hair problems.
Relationships: Aang/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 20
Kudos: 391





	All Aboard the Braid Train

“URGH”

Aang nearly topples over in his effort to swirl around to face Zuko. He had been practicing the motions of the last forms they had worked on that day and the noise had broken the quiet atmosphere of the southern air temple.

While loud, fiery outbursts from his teacher weren’t uncommon, they were never pleasant to hear during their training sessions, especially three hours in when Aanng knew his efforts were starting to get sloppy. 

Luckily, all of the older firebender’s anger seemed to be focused on a smoking scrap of ribbon on the ground.

“Um… everything okay there, Zuko? Aang finally asks when the other boy seemed entirely too committed to his staring contest with the apparently offensive ribbon.

“I’m fine. That’s enough practice for today.” Zuko grits out, tearing his eyes away, clearly still annoyed.

“Aw, are you sure? The rest of the gang will call us lazy if they get back from finding dinner and find us resting-“ Aang tries, knowing he could use whatever practice he could get. “-you haven’t even seen me try the last move.” 

“There’s not much point in me watching if I can’t see anything.” Zuko snidely answers back while yanking his admittedly long hair away from his face. Aang finally realizes the mounting frustration he’d been feeling from the other bender throughout the afternoon wasn’t from dissatisfaction with Aang’s abilities. He could suddenly recall how often in the last few days he had seen Zuko brushing his now nearly shoulder length black hair behind his ears and out of his eyes.

“Oh! Your hair, that’s what the ribbon was for.” At Aang's reminder Zuko zeros back in on the offensive fabric, anger struck anew.

“It’s supposed to be, but the blasted thing won’t stay in, I’ve been trying this whole time.” Zuko finally shares, more exasperated than Aang has heard him be in awhile. “How does Sokka get it to stay?” Zukko grumbles to himself as he throws his body into a lazy seated position on the ground, legs crossed haphazardly. 

“I don’t think I have any head bands anymore-“ Aang remembers his time in disguise, not entirely too sorry that he didn’t have to carry them any longer “...have you considered cutting it?” Aang offers, thinking out loud. 

Aang almost feels a pang of regret as he says it, for some reason it feels wrong for his friend to have short hair again but Zuko seems to brighten for a second at the suggestion.

“I haven’t been able to find any scissors for awhile, but if you have some that could work.” Zuko says, seemingly sold on the idea 

Aang jumps up, still excited to have prospect of an easy way out of one of Zuko’s famous funks “Katara used to have a pair that she used on her and Toph they should be with..-“ Aang pauses remembering where the scissors are and his excitement fizzles out “-Sokka’s last bag, which is also at the bottom of the ocean.” Aang resists the urge to smack his forehead for forgetting how often they lose supplies when on the run.

Zuko deflates again, the proverbial storm cloud quickly returning. 

“I know we have Sokka’s knife still, though!” Zukko makes a face at this. “You mean the one he cleans fish with?” Aang turns sheepish, rubbing the back of his neck.

“You’re welcome to use my razor” Aang tries again.

Zuko’s eyes roam over the avatar’s lack of hair which makes Aang feel oddly naked under his friend’s naturally intense eyes before he dryly answers “I’d hate to steal your look.”

Aang gives a cheeky smile at Zuko’s attempt at a joke before replying “Yeah, I don’t think anyone could pull it off as well.” As he runs a hand over his smooth head. 

The benders sit in silence for a minute resting, and considering their options. The misty view before them creating a quiet, peaceful ambiance.

“Are you sure you’re tying it right?” Aang finally asks, breaking the lull.

“Of course, I used to have a ponytail, remember?”

“Hah! You did, I completely forgot about that.” Aang says giggling. 

After thinking for a few more seconds, Aang, not one for personal space or thinking things through more than once, rolls over onto his knees and crawls the few feet closer to Zuko and uses the prince’s unawareness to reach a hand up and brush it through the other’s hair. 

Zuko starts, but freezes at the action momentarily before slapping the smaller boy’s hand away.

“What are you doing?” Zuko questions, leaning as far away as he physically could from the Avatar.

At Zuko’s words Aang becomes aware of who he was dealing with and blushes slightly and moves away from where he was kneeling over the other boy, overly conscious of how close he had gotten.

Things with Zuko aren’t the same as they are with the rest of his friends. Aang would never tell him this, but he approaches him like he would if he were dealing with a stray pet. Move too quickly or speak too loudly, you could scare him away or get bit. It just wasn't in the air bender’ s nature to be distant

Aang chose instead to focus on what he just did.. The touch itself couldn’t have taken longer than a few seconds but it was enough to surprise Aang. Zuko’s hair was silky soft and he could run his fingers through it freely. 

For so long the fire kingdom prince had just been a concept, an embodiment of the part of the world that wanted nothing more than to capture and crush the Avatar. Since they had joined sides and to an even greater extent, become friends, it was a lot easier to see Zuko as himself. But, with the other boy’s explosive personality, constant intensity and emotional wounds it was almost odd seeing his physical body having needs as well. The fact that Zuko had to deal with his hair just like how Aang had to keep up with shaving his head made him feel like he was let in on a different side of the prince.

Instead of acknowledging it Aang chose to answer instead with “ I think I know why your hair won't stay in the ribbon.”

“Why?” Zuko at least looks more curious instead of scandalized now. 

“Well, it’s because of your hair’s texture. Sokka’s is thick and wavy so it grips to the ribbon pretty tightly, yours is soft, straight and a lot thinner so of course it falls out.”

“So you’re telling me my options are pretty much no sight or shaving my head?” Zuko asks, clearly not thankful for Aang’s observations.

“Katara braids hers, she says it's a lot tighter than just tying it up.”

“Good for Katara.” Zuko answers, content on being grumpy.

“She taught me how, that is.” Aang says, trying to explain what he’s getting at.

“Look, that’s a helpful skill for you to have...I guess?“ Zuko glances back awkwardly to Aang’s smooth head. “But, I guess I’ll go find Sokka’s knife.” He says as he climbs to his feet and heads towards their camp. 

“I’m offering to braid it for you, Professor Hotman!” Aang finally gets out, exasperated.

Zuko pauses in his attempt to stalk away. He turns around slowly, slightly wondering if he misheard the other boy. 

“Why?”

“Why?” Aang repeats back confused “I’m just trying to keep you from losing an eye-oh..umm, I-“ Zuko has to fight the urge to roll his eyes at Aang’s suddenly awkward, stammering attempt at explaining himself and the even stranger urge to laugh. 

“If you think um, think it’ll work, then you can try” Zuko finally interrupts, hating that his own speech now was showcasing his awkwardness. 

Like a switch being flipped Aang’s face lights up with a big smile.

If Zuko thought he was out of his element a second ago now he really lost, why is the other boy excited to be doing him a favor? Shouldn’t the roles be reversed? There were so many things about the air nomad that Zuko couldn’t understand. One major mystery being how he had a hard time turning down anything Aang asked for or offered him. 

Aang interrupts Zuko’s thoughts by carrying on his own conversation with himself, apparently torn on deciding where to sit. Zuko in turn stands there, arms flat against his sides, feeling lost.

“I got it! Sit in front of this.” With those words Aang stamps one foot on the ground while simultaneously raising his fist causing a small bench sized patch of rock to jut out from the ground.

Zuko is momentarily caught up in the wonder at the power Aang could so easily display. Sure, it was hard to ever forget he was the Avatar but his personality was so cheerful and childish it made it seem like the focused concentration he possessed whilst bending transformed him into a different person. Every casual use of his abilities showcased this wise, ancient side of the boy that should remind him of the many lives the Avatar has lived but, just feels so uniquely Aang.

“C’mon, I promise I’ll try my best to keep up the intimidating bad boy look you have going on.” Zuko could’ve been imaging it, but it seemed as if the tips of the other boys' ears seemed to darken at the words. 

Mutely, Zuko follows the instructions and sits and crosses his legs in front of the newly made bench. Before he realizes what Aang’s intentions with his setup were, the other boy sits directly behind him, knees nearly brushing his back. 

“Hahah, I’m not sure what you’ve heard but the Avatar sadly does not have  
hair-bending abilities, you’ll have to sit a little closer.

In an undignified manor the prince would never admit to later he is dragged backwards by surprisingly strong hands in between the Avatar’s legs, arms flailing in either direction. 

Zuko curses himself for agreeing to play beauty shop instead of just taking his chances with the knife or razor. He also blames the blush rising in his cheeks at the unfamiliar, casual way in which Aang was handling him.

Suddenly, those same strong hands are gently brushing through his hair, in a way he hasn’t felt since he was a child. His first instinct is to slap the hands away, and dissuade any chance of his exit being followed with a curtain of flames. But, knowing they’re Aang’s hands, keeps him from giving in. Unfortunately it does nothing to lessen his red cheeks. 

“Hah, your hair is really soft Zuko.” Aang seems content just running his fingers through the silly strands.

“That’s because I actually bathe, unlike some people in our group. Now, are you going to keep petting me or are you actually going to help?” Being able to control his physical defenses was one thing but he could do nothing to stop the spiked barbs falling from his mouth.

To his secret relief Aang doesn’t seem offended at all and continues stroking his hair.

“I’m making sure there aren’t any tangles.” Aang says softly and distractedly as if all Zuko had said was a simple question. 

They sit in silence even as Zuko finally feels the other boy start separating his hair into some sort of pattern. For once, silence feels uncomfortable for the normally stoic firebender, he feels the urge to make some conversation to break the otherwise oddly intimate atmosphere they’d unwittingly created. 

“So...why did you learn to braid?” Zuko cringes at the lame excuse of a conversation even to his own years. 

To his surprise Aang answers eagerly, as if he had resigned himself to the silence but was thankful for the chance to talk. 

“Believe it or not, there’s not a lot else to do in the little down time you get when you’re on the run, I was curious how Katara did it and she offered to show me.”

Zuko hummed in what could almost be called a laugh and said “I understand that, I accidentally curated an expansive knowledge on tea and pei sho but, unlike you I’m not able to make a decent cup, or win a game.”

Aang giggles and it’s a light breezy sound. Everything about the other boy was light and airy, and for obvious reasons but, it just felt like another thing that belonged to Aang only. 

It was odd getting used to at first, the gymnastic moves that took Zuko years to be able to do Aang did as easily as if he were walking. When adjusting him during training sessions he felt as light and hard to grab as the wind itself. He guessed there’s some ground to the gruff earthbender’s nickname “twinkle toes’ , he knows he himself has been surprised by Aang’s accidental near silent approaches more than he’d like to admit. 

“When I grew my hair out while traveling through the fire nation, I almost considered letting it get long enough so I could braid it.”

Zuko feels surprised at this, it seems odd to imagine Aang with hair. He finds himself trying to picture what color it would be, he could almost see it being the light honeyed brown that Ty Lee’s hair had a tendency for.

“Why didn’t you?” Zuko asks instead, feeling that asking what it looked like would be an odd question.

“It just didn’t feel like me, ya’ know” Aang answers as Zuko feels a slight tug from where the air bender was still twisting his hair. 

“I know there’s not much reason to keep shaving, the monks were the ones who always enforced it as a way to keep us from being distracted from vanity when we were young.” Aang continues. “At that time I used to get jealous of my friends’ different hairstyles. I’d gotten in arguments with Gyastu about it actually. 

Zuko feels hushed into silence, it wasn’t uncommon for Aang to mention his life before the iceberg, but they were usually small happy moments or fun facts, very seldomly did he go into details. It added to the mystery that was the air bender.

“But, when I was finally given the title of master and got my tattoos it felt good to be able to show it off, especially around my friends who still had a few years to go I admit.” Aang says laughing easily.

The soft voice of the Avatar as he talked combined with the relaxing motions of his hands made Zuko feel more at ease than he had in a very long time.

“Now, I like to keep it off. I’m kind of proud to be able to keep the tradition even if no one else really gets it. I feel more like me and more connected to my home when I do.” Zuko feels Aang’s fingers fumble slightly as he says “I know you didn’t ask, sorry” and Zuko knows he’s probably wearing a sheepish smile as he’s prone to do.

“No, don’t worry, it’s interesting to hear about, really” Zuko attempts to turn his head around to back up the sincerity of his words with eye contact but is only rewarded with his hair being yanked.

“Ow!”

“Don’t move then!” Aang answers back to Zuko’s cry of pain, obviously trying to hide his laughter. 

Zuko sits back comfortably and before he realizes it is reclined completely against the rock behind him, subsequently, completely nestling his shoulders in between Aang’s knees.

Zuko feels Aang switch sides of his head, working on another braid apparently. Though, once he starts it’s not the same soft tugging it was before, now he can barely feel it. He’d also slowed down significantly, as if he was scared to put any pressure on the hair.

Why was he being so careful on that side? It hadn’t bothered him before. It’d been kind of...relaxing. 

Oh. His scar. 

“You don’t have to be so careful, you’re not going to hurt me.” Zuko tries, guessing at the reason for the delicate touch. He feels Aang's hands stop again.

“Are you sure?”  
Aang’s voice is unsure and Zuko knows he guessed correctly.

“I promise, I can’t feel it most of the time.”

He assumed Aang would continue but instead of finishing his hair he feels fingers softly stroke just under his eye, lingering towards his ear.

Growing up royal, physical touch was not something he had any familiarity with. Apparently, the Avatar was raised completely differently as he’d demonstrated on two separate occasions today. 

Oddly enough, when he feels the hand come back for a second time, softly feeling where his eyebrow used to be the urge to move away doesn’t come as it normally would. If you asked him he’d blame it on gratitude for the favor but, honestly, it felt kind of nice. 

“You’re pretty touchy, aren’t you?” Zuko says softly, not really to deter him but, still feeling like he needed to say something. 

“Has anyone told you you’re really hot?”Aang asks, instead of answering his question.

That didn’t really answer his question Zuko thought annoyed, that’s something Aang and Uncle Iroh seemed to have in common. 

Wait. What did he say?

“Umm” Zuko starts, not really sure why to say. Thankfully, Aang seems to have caught up with how his words could be interpreted before Zuko had time to finish his answer.

“That’s not what I meant!” Aang seems to have taken the assurance that he didn't have to be so gentle to heart, with a grip so tight it almost hurts. “temperature wise, you’re really warm, not that you’re attractive.”

“Wait, not that you’re umm, not not attractive!” Zuko grimaces as his head is jerked along with Aang’s attempt at gesturing while talking. “I think you’re, um, handsome and I like your body.” 

Aang wants nothing more than to bury his head in the dirt. That sounds so creepy! He needs to explain- 

“Your muscles I mean! Not that your body is hot.” That’s not helping! If anything that makes it worse.

“Well, maybe your body is hot too! But, I just mean that I'm jealous, I’m just so small, I could never build up muscles like that.” 

What is wrong with his mouth? He had never meant to admit the time he’d spent eyeing the older boy’s arms and imagining if his arms could ever be anything more than sticks. Not even just that, when they spared, Zuko could take Aang out in a second if it wasn't for his bending. He could never hold his own like Zuko can and now his friend is going to think he’s so weird for noticing.

“I would love it if I could look like you instead of like me is what I mean.” Aang tries one more time, trying to repair the situation, already resigned to whatever reaction from Zuko he deserves.

“Don’t say that, I think you’re, um….cute” What was that? Aang’s previous thoughts are now being mirrored inside of Zuko’s head. The guy gives you a compliment and the only thing you can do is call him cute, when he just complained about not being manly enough? 

Zuko’s hand twitches, itching to plant itself firmly in his forehead. Sure, watching some of the Avatar’s antics he’d occasionally classified them as cute, but that wasn't a thought that was supposed to ever see the light of day. 

Instead of the indignant reply he expected to hear Zuko is surprised when he hears an almost shy sounding “You really think so?” As Aang finally continues finishing his hair.

“I wouldn’t say it if I didn't think it was true.” Zuko says honestly. “Besides, can you imagine me trying to fly around like you do? I’m way too heavy, your body can do amazing things and that makes it perfect.” Zuko tags the last bit on hoping the words his Uncle used to say to him when he was the same age would encourage Aang as much as it did him. 

“That’s actually really positive, you feeling okay, Zuko?” Aang says finally laughing, clearing up any lingering awkwardness in the air.

“Can you hand me the ribbon now?”

After Zuko hands up the ribbon to the waiting hand he feels Aang tie two tight knots into the hairstyle. 

“Sorry, there aren’t any mirrors but, I tried to leave some of it down, it seemed more like you.”

Zuko reaches a hand up trying to get a feel for what Aang had done, he finds two tight braids gathering all the hair that had framed his face tight into a ponytail at the back of his head. What his friend had said was true because all the hair that wasn't gathered in the top half was free to hang but was still far from being in his face.

“It feels great, thank you Aang.” Zuko says, finally turning to Aang to give him a smile.

“Now that I can see through, I’d like to see the last three form sets again.” His smile settling into a smirk. 

Aang only groans and slides backwards off his makeshift bench while Zuko laughs

\- - -  
“Ooooh, Zuko, your hair looks so pretty! Did they teach you to braid in princess school?”

Zuko rolls his eyes at Sokka across their campfire as they finish up dinner. 

“You’re just jealous your hair can’t look this nice.” Zuko answers back.

Sokka makes an exaggerated face at him which prompts Zuko to throw his empty bowl at his head. Sokka merely dodges it, nearly falling over laughing at his own jokes in the process. The rest of the group proceeds to chime in, either adding in on the teasing or defending the hairstyle

In the noise Zuko can't help but look over at Aang, the fire light causing his normally pale skin to seemingly glow. The air nomad isn’t participating in the discussion only looking down into his lap hiding the smallest smile and slight blush. 

Zuko isn’t sure if he can blame the way his stomach flips on Katara’s cooking.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first posted work, let me know what you think with a comment. Now that I can rewatch AtLA on Netflix I can’t seem to stop. Besides, the Avatar Renaissance needed more Zuko/Aang content.


End file.
